At the height of his McFly fame, Harry Judd‘s anxiety meant he could barely face going outside. A decade later and he’s passing on his tips for beating the mental health condition which left him crippled.

Now ’95 per cent’ free from anxiety, Harry is full of the joys of family life. Having married his McFly sweetheart Izzy in 2012, he has two children and lives a grown-up life with a ‘small garden’ in Chiswick, West London.

But during the peak of his McFly days in the mid-noughties, Harry admits he ‘couldn’t handle it anymore’ and ‘completely broke down’ from the condition, which he attributes to a lifestyle of overdoing the drinking and a drug smoking habit: a ‘vicious cycle’.

‘At the time when my anxiety was at its worst, the thought of going out, let alone doing exercise…It’s isolating, it’s frightening, it makes you irrational, it changes the way you think,’ Harry tells Metro.co.uk as part of our Listen Movember series.

McFly gave up drinking six years ago to focus on his mental health (Picture: Cancer Research UK)

‘You think “Am I going mad?” and “what’s wrong with me?” And you’re scared to ask for help because you’re worried there’s nothing anyone can do.

‘I was expected to perform and I just didn’t feel up to it. And that’s relatable to anyone in any job, if you’re suffering with mental health issues, it can really affect your output.’

But Harry found the courage to seek help and was immediately relieved by health professionals, who explained that mental health is no different to breaking a bone.

‘I just said “look I’m feeling all these things, and I dunno why, and I need a bit of help,” and that was the best thing I’d ever done. I remember being really nervous about telling him [Harry’s manager], because it’s quite an isolating feeling.’

Harry’s now a proud father to two young children, and is married to Izzy who played violin for McFly (Picture: Press)

The anxiety, which ‘resulted in panic attacks’ led Harry to feel ‘demotivated, isolated, you lose your appetite, you lose yourself really. It makes you feel vulnerable and weak, but you’re not, you’re just going through something but it’s not the true you, and you can get out of it.

‘But as soon as I confided in him and I had that support system and then he helped me to find a good doctor, I felt instantly like I had a weight off my shoulders.’

Probably the most adorable picture in the whole world (Picture: Instagram.com/harryjudd)

Lately, the music star has become a passionate advocate for mental health, offering solutions to living a fit and happy life that are approachable for all.

Harry insists there needn’t be a high cost involved in exercise – it should be accessible for all – and recommends us his favourite artisanal, non-alcoholic gin (he stopped drinking years ago due to his condition) which still packs a flavour punch without the health costs of booze.

Get Fit, Get Happy, Harry’s new book, documents the simple ways we can experiment with our physical bodies to affect our mental state, it’s a process Harry picked up after reaching his lowest point.

Harry’s message is that ‘you shouldn’t feel alone, because there are so many options, particularly for men.

‘A lot of people don’t talk because they feel they don’t want to be a burden, they need to man up or they feel embarrassed in the workplace – it takes a lot of courage to speak up, its very brave,’ Harry explains.

Harry Judd and wife Izzy (Picture: WENN.com)

‘Just because you have mental health problems doesn’t mean that you are weak,’ he adds.

If ‘mental’ health seems harder to pinpoint than physical health, Harry’s message is that the two are connected.

‘The doctor said to me that if you fell over and broke your leg, we would help you to heal that leg. He said it’s the same thing, but with your brain. And I was like, “Oh, okay, cool”.’

Understanding mental health naturally leads to wanting to support it, and following the instructions of health professionals, Harry gradually took up simple, easy-to-do exercise regimes which led to his own personal breakthrough.

‘I thought, hang on, no one’s really talking about exercise and mental health. Everyone just talks about exercise from an aesthetic point of view: how to get beach body ready, and how to get ripped in eight weeks.

‘We’re all told we should be exercising, but most of the population don’t, so maybe they’re just being sold it in the wrong way.

‘I did a load of research and it turns out instincts were right – people feel intimidated by gyms and the way exercise is put across, all the people who look really ripped in fitness adverts and on Instagram.

‘There’s a lot of people out there who feel initimated by exercise, who don’t have the time and money so I can hopefully put across a book about fitness that has got some workouts that are more chilled, more fun and more accessible.

‘Stuff you can do at home, using your sofa, using your stair case, using the park, a tree, the park bench. You don’t need any equipment, it’s not about getting a six pack, it’s about feeling better in yourself.

Harry was a contestant on Strictly (Picture: BBC)

‘I met some fans along the years that have suffered from anxiety and mental health, it’s been nice to see their feedback from the book who say they’re already feeling better.’

Swerving the temptations of the party circuit, Harry has taken to gardening, which the star finds ‘really therapeutic, cutting things back, watering stuff,’ and being more aware of his triggers has led towards a wider appreciation of the ways we can control and stimulate our minds.

‘I find exercise quite a meditative thing to do. It takes me out of myself, and I can focus on what i’m doing – it kind of ticks both boxes’.

Get Fit, Get Happy harbours Harry’s new life philsophy, six years sober, that ‘it’s often the simple things that are therapeutic,’ although he still refers to his anxiety as his ‘Achilles heel’ which could return.

Although having a calm awareness of that and maintaining a stable life is key, he says: ‘I’m 95 percent happy and anxious free,’ he quips. ‘It’s all good now, I still have such a giggle’.

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Listen is a series supporting Movember, encouraging men to speak out. Stay tuned for articles throughout November and click here to donate to help the many charities involved.

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